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Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Resisting What's Best

“What’s wrong with Baxter?” my husband asked. “He is limping. And he can’t jump up on the
couch.”

An hour beforehand, the cat was fine. Now he was definitely favoring his right back foot. The problem
only worsened overnight, so I made an appointment at a local animal hospital.

After a thorough physical exam and x-rays, the vet felt that
Baxter had a tear or strain in his Achilles tendon. She recommended consulting
a veterinary orthopedic surgeon and putting a soft cast on it in the meantime.

Have you ever tried putting a harness on a cat? Have your
children ever dressed up your cat in a t-shirt or a doll dress? If you have,
you know how they fight against it. That is exactly what Baxter did. He fought
against the cast. He yowled, he hissed, and threw himself on the floor
repeatedly. He dragged himself around with his front paws, laid on his side,
and rolled over one way and then the other. He bit it, tried to run away from
it, and stared at it while whacking his tail down as hard as he could on the
kitchen floor. He reminded me of our children throwing a fit when they were
toddlers. It was not a pretty sight.

It was also rather scary. I was sure he was going to further
injure himself. I called the vet in a bit of a panic and the assistant came to
the phone. “Pam, you must let that on Baxter’s leg. Do not remove it. He will
adjust. It's for his best.”

She was right. After about two hours, Baxter calmed down and
found he could do pretty much anything he needed to do, despite the despicable
cast on his leg. He could even manage small leaps onto the furniture.

Jesus replied,"But even more
blessedare all who hear the
word of Godand put it into
practice."Luke 11:28

When it comes to obeying God, we often behave
as self-destructively as Baxter. Although everything God asks of us is for our
best and brings about spiritual growth and renewal, we stubbornly resist—giving
all kinds of “lame” excuses:

We don’t want to forgive so easily—after all, that person
hurt us!

We don’t want to give generously—we might need that item or
that money ourselves someday!

We don’t want to totally commit—then we couldn't have fun!

We don’t want to avoid gossip—co-workers will think we are
stuck up!

We don’t want to give up our favorite bad habits—we would
just fail anyway.

We don’t want to enter full-time ministry now—our current jobs are much too lucrative.

The list could go on and on.

What
has God asked you to do that you are refusing to give in to? Are your reasons
as weak as some of the ones I mentioned above? Consider the positive results
of obedience—the healing, the joy, the deliverance, the integrity, the freedom
from guilt, the adventure. What might appear to be as restrictive as Baxter’s
cast, ultimately leads to our betterment.